Character Deathmatch
The most fun event at Pure Speculation Festival?? The Character Deathmatch!! Good Sports! Great Entertainment!
Billie Milholland
Two characters enter, and only one will emerge.
(OK, maybe they’ll both come out, but there’ll be conflict before they do)
What is it?
Character deathmatch is an intellectual brawl in the form of a video podcast (it started as an in-person event in 2014). Each duel features two authors and their two characters. As your host, I (Joseph Halden) grill each contestant with questions sure to test the characters’ mettle, such as:
- Does your character believe in life after love?
- What would your character most likely make their opponent for dinner?
- Which classic literature author is your character most likely to murder?
- Worship, marry, sniff: Winnie, Piglet, Eeyore?
After a calamitous exchange of dangerous word-ripostes, two characters will find themselves breathless at their final trial: a prisoner’s dilemma. Will they agree to cooperate, hoping the other will do the same so both can emerge unscathed? Or will they opt for bloodshed, leaving carnage in the boxing ring?
Sometimes the format might be adjusted to accommodate more or less attendees. For example, characters might be assigned to teams and then a team winner declared when they’re in the majority of surviving contestants.